Certain kinds of alkoxyimino compounds have recently received increased attention because of their excellent fungicidal effects on various fungi which may cause rice blast, rice sheath blight, cucumber downy mildew and the like. Some of these compounds and their production processes have already been known in the art (e.g., JP-A 63-23852 and JP-A 63-30463).
The present inventors have already filed several patent applications on alkoxyiminoacetamides compound of the formula: ##STR1## wherein A is hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, alkoxy, halogenated alkyl, halogenated alkenyl, halogenated alkynyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, unsubstituted or substituted phenyl, or an unsubstituted or substituted heterocyclic group; Z is --CH.sub.2 --, --O--, --S--, --CH(OH)--, --CO--, --NR-- (wherein R is hydrogen or alkyl), --CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 --, --CH.dbd.CH--, --CH.sub.2 O--, --CH.sub.2 S--, --CH.sub.2 S(O)--, --OCH.sub.2 --, --SCH.sub.2 --, --S(O)CH.sub.2 -- or epoxy; R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are identically or differently hydrogen, alkyl or cycloalkyl; R.sup.3 is alkyl or cycloalkyl; and the symbol " " denotes a configuration of these compounds, i.e., either E- or Z-form, or a mixture of these forms, as well as on its production process (i.e., JP-A 2-127441, JP-A 2-200696 and JP-A 2-312519).
On the other hand, as disclosed in EP-A 398692, an .alpha.-ketamide of the formula: ##STR2## wherein A, Z, R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are the same as described above, is important as a common intermediate for use in the production of various alkoxyiminoacetamide compounds of formula VI, and there is a great demand for the development of a process of producing such an .alpha.-ketamide with high efficiency.